Too many rules removes man’s need to think

: : : What is the origin of "Too many rules removes man’s need to think" - unknown (Plato or Socrates?

: : I can't imagine either Plato or Socrates saying anything of the kind, given that they lived in a society with very few regulations. Some anonymous wiseacre must have come up with this one, and probably very recently, since it gets precisely no google hits at all. (VSD)

: I looked through three quote books -- including Bartlett's -- and didn't find it. I did find this (looking through a Christmas catalog): There are no rules here. We are trying to accomplish something. Thomas Edison.

A guy on the New Zealand NORML online forum posted that "Having too many rules removes the need to have a conscience (or even to be conscious). IMO trying to make life "idiot-proof" simply creates dumber idiots [animated smiley]"Obviously the NORML guy, and presumably people who wish to attribute the original quote to Plato or Socrates, believes that removing the need to think is a bad thing.